


Another Family Sunday

by Goldy



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-09
Updated: 2013-07-09
Packaged: 2017-12-18 02:10:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/874476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>“Rose,” he said, in that deadly serious Earth-on-the-brink-of-destruction voice, “the goat is an alien.” The admission probably would have been more convincing if the Doctor wasn’t squatting in the middle of a petting zoo, his nose sunburned and peeling, and the reportedly alien goat eyeing his tie like it would be a tasty afternoon snack. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Family Sunday

Rose dumped a fistful of pellets into Tony’s open hands. “Just hold your hand out—yeah, like that—gotta keep it flat, though. We don’t want you losing any fingers.”

“Oh, I won’t,” said Tony confidently, full of trust in his sister. He held out his hand and the nearest goat ambled over, sniffing his hands appreciatively. Rose smiled fondly at him, secretly glad that Jackie insisted they go out as a family every Sunday. Petting zoos were a lot more popular on this world than back home, but Rose was having fun.

A muffled gasp rippled across the visitors, and a few people pointed and whispered, “Blimey, what’s he doing? Is that a goat?”

Rose got a sinking feeling. She instinctively looked around for the Doctor. She finally found him crouched down in the middle of the petting zoo, speaking animatedly to one of the goats. Rose blinked. Okay, so normal people usually didn’t talk to goats, but this was _the Doctor_. Normal didn’t exactly apply to him.

“Tony,” she said, giving her brother a nudge, “go and help Mum, all right?”

“Rose, Rose, it’s trying to eat my hat!” said Tony, swatting uselessly at the goat.

“Great,” Rose said absently, attention fixed on the Doctor.

She glanced down at her open toed sandals and then, shrugging, gingerly hopped over the fence. Mud squished between her toes and she made a face, telling herself _not_ to think about what was in it. Tony’s goat looked over with interest before taking a large bite of Rose’s t-shirt. Rose swatted at the goat and then made her way towards the Doctor.

“Egga ooomf ma aah,” she heard the Doctor say.

“Bah,” replied the goat. “Mah haaaa.”

“Ah mah ja?!” said the Doctor before looking up. His gaze fell on Rose. “Oh, hello.”

“Hi,” Rose said, dodging a pile of goat poop. “What’s going on?”

The Doctor patted the goat absently on the head. The goat looked rather displeased and sent Rose a ‘can you even _believe_ him’ look. She frowned—goats definitely weren’t supposed to have looks. She sent the Doctor a questioning stare.

“Rose,” he said, in that deadly serious Earth-on-the-brink-of-destruction voice, “the goat is an alien.”

The admission probably would have been more convincing if the Doctor wasn’t squatting in the middle of a petting zoo, his nose sunburned and peeling, and the reportedly alien goat eyeing his tie like it would be a tasty afternoon snack.

Rose, who had heard far more absurd things come out of the Doctor’s mouth before, nodded and crouched down next to him. She addressed the goat. “Hello, my name’s Rose Tyler.”

The goat looked at the Doctor expectantly. “Majon ing,” said the Doctor. He pointed at Rose. “Rose Tyler.”

The goat bobbed his head up and down and then held up a hoof in Rose’s direction. Rose blinked and then shook it.

“His name’s Marcus,” said the Doctor. “He fell to Earth a few weeks back. His spaceship landed in a farm and the owners mistook him for one of their goats.”

“Don’t know how that happened,” said Rose as Marcus returned to eyeing the Doctor’s tie.

“ _Anyway_ ,” continued the Doctor, “I promised we’d get him home.”

He smiled at her—the one he usually reserved for adventures and mayhem—and it sent a jolt through her system. She smiled back.

“Have you got a plan?”

The Doctor scratched an ear. “I was thinking we might try grabbing him and making a run for it.”

“A classic.”

“Exactly. Do you think anyone’s notice us?”

“Dunno.” Rose glanced behind her—just in time for twelve cameras to flash in her face. Blinking the stars out of her eyes, she turned back to the Doctor. “Yeah, I’d wager a guess that we’ve been spotted.”

She _really_ didn’t want to think about what the tabloids were going to say in the morning.

“Right, then. New plan.” The Doctor glanced around. “We need a distraction.”

“ _Or_ ,” said Rose, digging around in her pockets, “we could do this the easy way.”

The Doctor looked sceptical. “Yeah, and how’s that?”

Rose pulled out her mobile and dialled a familiar number. “Dad? Have you ever thought about buying a petting zoo?”

****

“Easier maybe,” said the Doctor glumly as they watched Pete fill out the paperwork, “but not exactly as much fun, is it?”

Rose patted him consolingly on the arm. “Marcus did eat half your tie.”

If possible, the Doctor looked even more dejected. “I liked that tie.”

“Listen, I’ll make it up to you later, yeah?” Jackie’s head snapped around and Rose quickly added, “With uh... physics lessons and gummy bears.”

“Ooh,” said the Doctor, perking up. “Really?”

Rose sighed. “Yeah. That’s exactly what I meant.”

Pete cleared his throat. “Not that I don’t understand the necessity of rescuing an alien goat, but what am I supposed to do with a petting zoo?”

Jackie, Pete, Rose, and the Doctor all looked over at the petting zoo in question. The former owner happily shooed customers away from the enclosure, apparently delighted that he’d managed to sell it for three times its net worth. Three police cruisers had pulled up next to the far entrance, but the officers looked like they didn’t know who to arrest. Behind the police cruisers, reporters snapped photos, occasionally yelling out, “Rose Tyler, is it true that you’ll be checking your husband into a mental health facility?”

Tony, oblivious to the drama, squatted down next to Marcus and seemed to be getting unending enjoyment out of pulling on Marcus’s ears.

“Well,” said the Doctor, slapping Pete on the back. “You could start by getting those ‘trespassing’ charges dropped.”

“It’s not even _profitable_ ,” Pete continued, “the cost of keeping the animals healthy far outweighs whatever I can make from ticket sales.”

“Don’t forget the 25p for food pellets,” Rose said.

“You’ll sort something out,” the Doctor added cheerfully. “And look on the bright side, you did something good today! Beats sitting in a board room and counting your profits, doesn’t it?”

Pete shot the Doctor a dirty look and Rose figured that was her cue to step in. “Speaking of,” she said, “we should probably get Marcus back to his ship.”

Tony guffawed as he pulled on another of Marcus’s ears. “BAH!” screeched Marcus. “Maha!”

“Come on now, Marcus,” responded the Doctor, “that was a bit rude. There are children about.”

The reporters hurried to snap another round of pictures.

“OI, YOU LOT,” Jackie shouted at the reporters, “HE MIGHT BE A BIT DIM, BUT HE’S NOT OFF TO A MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL. NOW CLEAR OUT.” Then she dropped her voice and turned to Rose. “Sweetheart, he’s talking to a _goat_.”

“It’s not a _goat_ , he’s a maaajong,” said the Doctor. “Distant relative, but far more advanced than any goat species here on Earth.” The Doctor glanced down at his half-eaten tie and frowned. “Well, in theory.”

“I can see it now,” said Rose. “‘Vitex Heiress marries mad man. Mother worries for her safety.’”

The Doctor beamed proudly at her and then reached for her hand. “Now, let’s be fair. I gave you plenty of chances to return to a life of beans on toast and funny little three dimensional houses.”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Sounds boring.”

“Yup!” said the Doctor, getting that twinkle in his eyes that usually meant he was about to kiss her. Sure enough, he leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers. His lips were chapped from the bright sun and he tasted faintly of toothpaste and burned toast.

“Oh, here they go again,” Jackie said. “It’s like watching a pair of teenagers. Reminds me of that time I caught Rose on the sofa with that Jimmy Stone’s hand up her shirt—”

“All right!” said the Doctor, pulling away. “I get the hint.”

“Ooh ma dah,” chimed in Marcus.

The Doctor’s jaw dropped. “Oh, that’s it, you cheeky little—”

Rose grabbed the Doctor’s arm to head off anything he might regret later. “C’mon. We’ve got to get him home, remember?”

The Doctor glared at Marcus, but then nodded in resignation. “Then physics?” he asked hopefully.

“Then physics,” Rose sighed. They were _really_ going to have to decide on some better code words.


End file.
